


A Day of New Birth

by Starcrossedsky



Series: Rebellionstuck [1]
Category: Homestuck
Genre: Gen, Mother Grub Hatching Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-10-26
Updated: 2011-10-26
Packaged: 2017-10-24 23:28:08
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/269098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Starcrossedsky/pseuds/Starcrossedsky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AKA Kanaya: Hatch a mother grub in the middle of a rebel spaceship, on live broadcast to every Alternian craft in the universe, and try not to screw up the carefully plotted political statement behind the action.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Day of New Birth

**Author's Note:**

> How did this wind up being the first one of these I finished?
> 
> Minor EOA5 spoilers.
> 
> For those of you who aren't aware - Rebellionstuck is my epic huge collection of post-game oneshots, focused on the trolls in an Alternia restored to its pre-SGRUB state in a section of the universe created by the kids at the end of their shenanigans. This particular oneshot is set once the rebellion is started, and is basically the event that kicks the battle section of the rebellion that ends with victory for our trolls. (Hey spoilers.) Considering that I have... Uh, twelve or so other oneshots planned for this verse, that's all the background you're getting today! You'll just have to suffer nonlinearity like everyone else in Homestuck.
> 
> Dedicated to my mom. Because she rocks. Even if trying to explain Homestuck to her is like trying to teach physics to a cat.

==> Kanaya: Enter.

You're terribly nervous about this. Although you've been talking about the plan with the others for quite some time, it is entirely different to put it into action.

You are one of the last to arrive in the main chamber of the _B. Slick_ 's hull, and by the time you arrive, the camera is already set up. Sollux and Equius are bent over a computer station off to the side of your group, no doubt doing a final check of the job of hacking into the Imperial broadcast network. Thanks to Sollux's hard work (although he insists that it was nothing, that the Imperial computers are easier to hack than he expected), every screen in the Alternian fleet will play your broadcast tonight, from the bridge of the flagship to the smallest fighter.

Although Feferi will be giving a speech, as she usually does when the rebellion can manage to get past the Condesce's security, you will be responsible for the main presentation tonight. You only have one try, and you still aren't sure if you can do it.

The rest of your group is gathered around Karkat, as usual, and you join them on the tail end of one of his impassioned speeches. He helps Feferi write most of hers as well; after everything that happened, in the game and since, there was never any question that he would be your leader. The fact that he is considered the second coming of the Signless is simply a bonus, a fact that draws followers to your movement like flutterwings to flame.

"About time you got here," he says as you catch his eye. "It's not like we could do this without you."

"Sorry," you say, inclining your head. He waves off your apology.

"Don't worry about it, Kanaya. If you need the time to get your thoughts in order, the Empire can wait a little longer. It's waited this long, after all." There is a note of bitterness in his voice; you don't know whether or not Feferi has taken him deep into the dream bubbles to meet his Ancestor, but the two of them sound almost the same now. There is a tiredness in his voice, one that makes you worry about what's going to happen to him when the Empress is defeated and the rebellion is over. "It's been broken since that white cueball first landed in it. Whatever we have to do to put it right," and that is the Karkat you know, the passionate leader who was willing to give up everything, once, if it meant the cycle of newly born universes could go on—"it's worth it." Karkat glances at each of you in turn. "It's worth it for every grub that won't have to cower in fear of the culling drones because they aren't 'normal.' It's worth it for every lowblood that won't die long before their time, and for every highblood that won't have to live centuries after the death of their moirail or matesprit or kismesis. It's worth it for every good day's sleep we never had." He stops, and breathes deeply. Gamzee puts a hand on his shoulder. "Equius, Nepeta, get that camera set up. Let's do this."

"On it!" Nepeta gives Karkat a mock salute, something she picked up from Jade, and you and Feferi look at each other. The sea princess gives you an awkward smile, running her fingers through a strand of hair that hangs over her shoulder.

"You look lovely," you try to reassure her.

"Only thanks to you," she replies, and you incline your head at the praise. You designed most of the outfits of the rebellion yourself, the only exceptions being the God Tier outfits the humans still sometimes wear and Eridan's scarf and jacket. Feferi's outfit is meant to mimic the Condesce's bodysuit, but it is more colorful, not just black and magenta but accents of cherry red and grey, and the twelve-colored circle around her sign on the right shoulder of her jacket. Noticeably absent is the jewelry so common to seadwellers; Feferi wears only two rings, on the last two fingers of her left hand. You aren't sure when she joined Eridan in following the human tradition of advertising her romantic status on her fingers, but you think it's a nice example of the multiculturalism you've all become a part of.

"Okay, the camera's all hooked up," Nepeta says, jumping down from on top of the contraption that supports it. She presses a few buttons on the remote before handing it off to Equius, who nods and points the camera at the chair that was prepared for Feferi's speech.

"Are you ready?" Feferi says, and after a deep breath, you nod. The heiress smiles at you before going to take her seat in front of the camera. You turn away, and as she begins to speak, you take your first step down the stairs.

"Greetings, people of the Alternian Empire! It's a pleasure to be able to speak to you."

Step, step. The rest of the ship's crew, except for the meager few required to keep the ship running, are gathered on the next landing and the balcony attached to it, stretching halfway along the wall. Most of them have blood between red and yellow, but there are a few green and teal uniforms in the mix, and few enough blues that you can count them on one hand. Only one seadweller, towering over her orange-blooded moirail—she, the other seadweller, and most of the blue bloods that are here came with Eridan's ship, only after Terezi declared them "D3DIC4T3D TO TH3 C4US3 OF JUST1C3." Not that it really matters if the Empire sends spies into your ships; the most important plans are known only to your group and the humans.

Plans like the one you are putting into action now.

"Today is a day of new beginnings. Many of you, I'm sure, have heard the Empire's words about me. You have heard that I am a rebel against the crown, which is true. I speak to you now from the depths of one of the rebellion's ships. But you have also been told that I mean nothing but harm to our people, to our way of life. This is a lie."

Step, step step. The humans are gathered on the last landing, safely hidden from the view of the camera, as well as most of the crew above. Jade smiles at you, her strange ears perked forward and attentive, and Rose squeezes your shoulder as you walk past. John gives you one of his trademark grins and a double thumbs up.

"Already, we have begun to change the lives of trolls everywhere for the better. Already we have begun to peel away the layers of secrecy and fear that the Condesce has long cloaked herself in."

You reach the bottom of the stairs, and look up to the camera platform before stepping off the landing. Karkat signals you with one hand. Everything is in place.

"You have no need to fear the Vast Glub anymore. Gl'bgolyb is dead, by our hands, united across all colors of blood. Soon the Empress will follow."

It's old news to everyone on the ship, but you can imagine the gasps of shock that must be echoing around every ship in the fleet by now. The Empress has done her best to keep the situation hidden, even making public threats of using the Glub against the rebels.

For a moment, you are in view of the camera, until you pass behind Feferi's head and back out of sight. You finger the key in your pocket—one of the souvenirs of your time in the Veil. At first, you weren't sure why you kept it. You're glad you did, now.

"But today is not a day to talk of death! Today is a day to celebrate life, a day of rebirth and new birth for our race."

You locate the appropriate card in your sylladex—a card that was made anew, when the humans recreated your universe, in spite of everything else you lost—and unlock it. The matriorb appears in your hands, and although you have grown much since the game, it seems as heavy as ever.

"Today, on this ship, in this very room, a new mother grub will be born."

On that note, Feferi ducks away from the camera. You half-expected to hear murmuring from the crew, who had been kept in the dark up to this point, but the entire hull is nearly dead silent. The only sound you can hear is the faint noise of many people breathing, and Dave's foot tapping out seconds on the metal platform, _clink clink tick tock_. It's all your show now.

Carefully, you drop to your knees, setting the orb in the slight depression in front of you. You pull the needles and hammer from your borrowed specibi cards, a makeshift set of chiseling tools, and set them to the side.

The matriorb is covered in protrusions akin to troll horns, bent and curled in a fashion that seems random to the untrained observer. You turn the orb over, looking for the one notched tip that matches your own hooked horn. When you find it, you turn it to the top, and set the end of one needle against the base of it, where the orange banding has only just begun.

As you expected, the needle alone barely makes a scratch against the protective outer shell. The skin surrounding the dormant grub inside is thick, but more brittle where the protrusions come out from the central body. It just needs a bit of force to break open.

You lift the hammer with your free hand. This will provide more than a bit of force. You line the head of the handle up with the flat head of the needle, pull your arm back, and swing.

 _Crack._ A bit of jade fluid leaks around the end of the needle where it enters the shell, and more comes out when you twist the implement, widening the cracks. You pull the needle out, and get a few drops of the fluid on your skirt. It's a good thing you wore clothes that you don't particularly care about getting stained.

Choosing a second protrusion, you repeat the process. The cracks deepen and spread. A third repositioning, swinging, cracking, and you free a chunk of the shell. Pulling it away reveals the back of the infant grub, the same shaded white that is common to all forms of lusii.

==> Kanaya: Pull her free.

You hike your sleeves up past your elbows and plunge your hands into the gaps along the sides of the shell, feeling for where the grub's body is curled around her head. When you find the central axis of the curl, you push the sides of the shell apart to get a better grip around her middle.

Once you pull the grub free, you will have to clear her breathing passages quickly. You take a deep breath and glance up at your friends and the camera before bowing your head and pulling.

The grub slides up, leaving more trails of green across your clothes and the floor. She starts to uncurl in your arms, wiggling in her newfound awareness, as you brace you foot against the shell to pull her completely free. As the grub writhes in your arms, you kick the shell away. A bit of membrane coats her mandibles and face, and you wipe it away as you turn her in your arms. Putting her head over your shoulder, you rap her on the back, to expel any fluid she may have already inhaled. A bit of it ends up in your hair. Almost as soon as her windtube is clear, the grub fills the room with a shrill wail that echoes off the walls. You wince involuntarily at the noise right beside your ear.

"Shoosh, little grub," you say, giving gentler pats to her back. "I know, the world is bright and terrifying at first. But you are safe here." You begin to sway back and forth, gently rocking the grub until she quiets.

The sound of your voice seems to calm her, although she cannot possibly understand what you are saying. Before long, her little legs uncurl and instinctively make crawling motions against your chest. You smile.

"Ready to meet the world, little one?" The grub responds only with a faintly questioning coo. "Come along, then."

Careful of her weight, you carry the grub a few steps towards the camera. You can see Equius press a few buttons, probably some kind of zoom function. You lift the grub over your head to face the lens, and she flails above you with a series of confused shrieks, small pointy legs waving in the air.

"A new life," you say, as much to yourself as the camera. "A new life for all of us. No wiggler born by this grub will ever have to face the terror of the culling drones. No wiggler born by this grub will be any greater than any other, no wiggler any less, no matter the color of their blood, or their psychic gifts, or whether they breathe air or water. This I swear to you," and although you speak to a vast audience, your promise is more to the grub herself than any of the viewers.

As you lower the grub back into your arms, you see Karkat gesture to turn off the camera. As soon as the equipment is off, he turns to the crew on the lower deck.

"Alright, the Empress is going to be fucking pissed with what we just did there. The care and hatching of the mother grubs is one of their best protected secrets. She's going to try and come after us," and although your eyes are focused on the grub in your arms, you can hear the battle-ready smirk in his voice. "But most of the crews on her ships, even the highbloods, have been trained all their lives to respect the mother grubs and their caretakers. That buys us a little time, but not much, so what are you nooksniffers standing around here for? Get back to work."

The crew scatters, some of them taking transportalizers back to the _Skaia_ and the _Dualscar_ , others running off through the doors to other parts of the _B. Slick_. It isn't long before only your friends are left in the room, coming quietly down the stairs, so as not to disturb the grub you are slowly rocking to sleep in your arms. You hum a lullaby under your breath; the words of the song escape you, but the melody is as familiar as your own skin.

The humans are down the stairs first, John and Jade leaning in close to get a better look at the infant in your arms, Dave hanging back with his thumbs through his belt loops. The rest of the trolls follow behind them, Feferi and Nepeta curious in front and Eridan, giving you his best apologetic smile, bringing up the rear.

"She's beautiful," Rose says.

"Could I hold her?" Feferi chimes in, leaning eagerly over your shoulder. You smile, and offer the grub to the princess, who takes the white body gently, to avoid disturbing the grub's rest.

"Just be careful to support her head," you say, smiling. The heiress nods, seemingly uncaring of the jade slime that still drips from the grub's joints as Jade leans in to get a better look (and sniff) at them. "Would you mind watching her for the next hour or so? I could do with a change of clothes and a visit to the ablution stall."

"Of course!" Feferi looks very like a fond human mother, you think, and it is no wonder that she is the one who reintroduced the word "compassion" to your language. Once Alternia is truly at peace, it could do much worse for a ruler.

But that day is a long way away, you remind yourself as you walk towards your block, nodding to the congratulations offered by one or two crew members you pass. You all have many more pressing concerns before the world is any closer to real peace.

Today is but one beginning among many, but it is, you decide, one of the best.


End file.
